According to the report of Sydney Morning Herald, an Australian oversea student earned 40,000 dollars by Daigou milk powder in a year. This similar incident happened frequently, and more Chinese oversea students have operated their Daigou career successfully in Australia. Although Daigou makes local people lacks of milk powder indirectly and leads to the controversy in Australia, but some of them expressed they had difficulties to do Daigou and compared with the store of Daigou, they just earned little money to feed themselves.

High-quality and High-profit of the products

Daigou, is to find people to purchase the products which are not sold in consumer’s location or more expensive than other countries, so they ask others to buy it and deliver to them by express or bringing it to them directly.

Australia is famous for its baby formula, milk powder and health care products thanks to its high quality. Since “milk scandal” happened in China, Chinese people were worried about domestic milk, so they began to target at international market and use varieties ways to import baby formula. Also, Australia has many Chinese oversea students and immigrations and they have found Daigou seemed like a good chance to earn profit. Thus, Daigou have become more popular among Chinese.

Image from interviewee

“I have begun my Daigou since two months later after I studied in the University. At first, my friends and relatives ask me to buy something and express to them, but I found Daigou consumed my time and labor, so I began to collect extra money to feed myself, then I found Daigou could earn more money than I thought and some of my friends also did Daigou, so when I had spare time, I did Daigou to earn profits”, Jenny Liu, a business student who have done Daigou for more than years said.

Comparing with China, the product price of Sydney is much more expensive, so in the store of Daigou, Chinese restaurant and Chinese market, Chinese oversea students are everywhere. In fact, although Daigou is tried, but the work time Daigou is free and the consumers are settled, so basically, there have not so much problems during Daigou.

“The price in Sydney is much more expensive than my hometown, although my parents can support me, I don’t want to use so much money. Furthermore, I usually have many assignments and presentations to do, so I have no stable time to do part-time in the restaurant or market. Daigou can satisfy the conditions and also earn considerable money, so that’s why I want to do Daigou,” Jenny said, “I’m not saying doing Daigou is a good thing, but sometimes the high price and life pressure push me try to think how to earn more money to support myself”.

All blame on Chinese people is right or wrong?

Contraposing Daigou, lots of Australian mom have complained on the local website and social media and doubted Australian retailers, suppliers and managers need to do more actions to stop Daigou. Local people complained they could not tolerate this behavior and blamed Chinese to stop Daigou. Costy Williams is a mother who is living in Sydney, she published a post on the Facebook and said she could not find any Bellamy milk power in Coles around 20 kilometers. Some Australians rebuked Chinese ‘Daigou’ and buyers bought all the milk powder from supermarkets, even some people posted several pictures about Chinese people ‘wiped out’ Bellamy and Aptamil milk powder in the supermarket.

“When I access to the area of milk powder in Coles or Woolworth, I can feel some strange sight from local people, but I think they can not blame us totally. I have heard from my boss that some local people, even Woolworth staffs will convey many milk powders to Chinese people who are operating the store of Daigou with high prices, in order to earn more money. Thus, sometimes they are willing to do this”, said Lily Yang, a student who is doing part-time job in the store of Daigou.

Sometimes, Chinese students can not buy the products from supermarket or chemistry, so they come to the store of Daigou to buy what they need to purchase. In Australia, the store of Daigou is everywhere, especially in the city or the suburb where Chinese people live in. Jackson Wang, a boss of the store of Daigou, has opened several sub branches in Sydney.

“The supply of the milk powder and baby formula is from local retailers which can guarantee their qualification in my store, and most of my customers always buy a box of milk powders and baby formulas. We have cooperated with express companies, so we can get some of the goods from those companies,” Jackson said, “as for our health care products, sometimes I pay money to local people and ask them to buy lots of health products from many chemistry store, and we sell them with higher price.”

Image from interviewee’s mobile

Making rules is not enough

Recognizing the serious situation of Daigou, Australian Government stipulated that small exports of baby formula are legal but those over 10kg must be sourced from registered export establishments, have a health certificate and meet all of China’s import requirements. Failure to meet these standards can incur penalties of up to 12 months’ jail, while providing false information can result in five years in jail. With the alteration of Australian law, express firms also change their stipulation of delivering milk products and health care products. In supermarket, one person can just buy two baby formulas. However, Lily indicated that she can ask her friends to help her buy the milk products, so the regulation could not restrict her.

In conclusion, Daigou in Australia is not acknowledged by local government, but some of them do Daigou is to earn extra money to support their daily life, but some of them do Daigou as a normal career. The development of Daigou also let local people see the chance to earn more profits, so local retailers are willing to cooperate with Daigou store to gain more money. In another aspect, the rule that Australian government established can not solve this question totally, local people still appeal government to pay attention to Daigou.

Transportation is always a big concern for the public. Sydney, as a renowned metropolis, the public transportation has a big room to improve. According to the report of ABC news, this project arousing controversy which more or less affecting the CBD commuters and related businesses. In this level, I would dig into the new transport design bringing what changes in the present and future Sydney.

Based on the proper resources, the light rail project mainly aiming to relieve the increasing CBD transportation pressure, shorten commuting time and enhance the city competitiveness. Approximate $2 billion investment will put into paving the tunnel. Moreover, the CBD and South East Light Rail project is estimated cost about $500 million in total. The official department claims that the new light rail will deliver significantly greater benefits for Sydney. As payback of the massive investment, traffic integration, increased capacity, simpler transfer and possible business chance could be surely expected.

However, the instantly visible inconveniences also become a difficult issue to cope. One of the most noticeable changes is the transport burden has massively boosted in Elizabeth Street due to the Pitt Street closed. Even some favours alternative arrangements for buses instead of a light-rail line through the CBD, concerned the impact on Elizabeth Street from a sharp increase in buses, which could result in long lines of vehicles.

The opposition leader Luke Foley also claimed that the light rail project is either cannot bring a long-term return or solve heart area traffic congestion mostly. Put it simply, and the new light rail will occupy the whole road so that block other go through the main street. Furthermore, certainly affected businesses cannot get compensation by this construction.

Therefore, I am going to write my news feature story by leading up a personal angle story. For example, I will randomly interview some citizens, retailers, officers, then pick up one most engaging story in the opening paragraph. After that, briefly, introduce the background information (e.g. the initial reason for planning this project, the necessity of this the light rail, etc.)and different opinion from various behalves. Lastly, listing supporting data to illustrate specific questions and adding a few comments.

Considering the news feature title keywords’changes’, I would like to interview three groups. Firstly, I am planning to ask some shop owners who shop located along Pitt Street. The main aim is to research the secondly, collecting some ideas from the random pass by pedestrians, which may bring diversify answers based on different background. Lastly, contacting with the project officer ask them the official estimation of benefits and challenges regarding the upgrade.

Last month, it was reported that the State had spent about $34 million removing graffiti in 2014. The massive number shows that graffiti is still perceived as significant problem in Australia, even greater in New South Wales.

In response to the incidents of graffiti, the City of Sydney has established a graffiti management policy “to minimise incidents on both public and private property by prompt removal.” It arranges regular inspection of “hotspots” every day and “aims to remove any new graffiti they find within 24 hours.”

From the facts above, it seems that graffiti is granted no special place in Sydney’s public spaces. The government’s zero tolerance approach makes graffiti to be perceived as something to avoid, to against with or exactly, to report to officials. It places graffiti in a debatable position, especially where artistic aspect enters the public discussion.

However, if we wander around Sydney’s Inner West suburbs like Newtown, Enmore, and St Peters, we will eventually understand why this debate occurs. You will see many kinds of graffiti and murals spread out along King Street, particularly on the side walls of the store building. Some are perfectly maintained and positioned; some are just “harassed” by the intense and messy spray inks.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Yes, it is what differentiates the suburbs from other areas in Sydney. The Newtown Precinct website embraces the street art by including it as something to explore in Newtown. It suggests readers to “walk down King Street and feast your eyes on mandalas, oversized people, birds with hats and plenty of owls.”

The word ‘feast’ seems to connote enjoyable experience that we can get by seeing graffiti, murals and other forms of street art in the bohemian part of Sydney. Not as something distracting, unlawful, or dangerous. The statement even ends with “If you have a blank wall, there is a perfect piece of street art for you.” So, does it mean that there is a possibility of optimistic approach on perceiving graffiti?

Tugomir Balog, the owner and founder of May Lane Street Art Project, is one of the Sydneysiders who joins the conversation.

“Well, I think it [graffiti] cheers up people going to work in the morning. It’s nice to have a bit of color rather than just gray walls. I think it could… it does booze sort of spirit. You got that kick in the morning, just something dynamic,” he said.

Mr Balog, who runs a mounting, framing and laminating service business, initiated the May Lane Street Art project fifteen years ago. In 2005, he officially started the project at St Peters and set it as an outdoor gallery space. It consists of five panels hung on the window alongside the building of his office.

However, Mr Balog said he closed the project because “it’s not working anymore.”

“Because demography of neighbours changed. All these yuppies came in… younger people with the… no idea… they came from regional Australia, they want their peace and quiet on the weekend. And this area [St Peters] is not fringe, city fringe anymore. It’s actually… you know, cities. So, dynamic is talking different,” said the man who is currently negotiating with Marrickville City Council to restart the project.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The creation of May Lane Street Art Project reminds us that graffiti and other forms of street art has certain relationship with people who dwell in the area. Besides it acts as “mood-booster” for the bystanders, graffiti also shows the dynamic of environment and how it influences individual’s experience of place.

Dr Samantha Edwards-Vandenhoek, a design researcher from Swinburne University of Technology and creator of Sydney Graffiti Archive, said,

“I think everyone’s understanding of the environment and the spaces that they experience whether they’re walking to work or whether they live there, whether they’re tourist is quite different. We have a different perspective. …So, my work is about challenging how people understand and experience place. They may see graffiti and got ‘Oh, that’s awful. That’s vandalism’ and yes it is. But, what if we thought about it differently and what if we try to understand what people were trying to communicate? And it may change their experience of that place and what that graffiti does.”

“Life in Australia makes me feel like staying in prison.” The statement has aroused sympathy among the Chinese migrant parents widely, who settled down in Australia with their children.

(Photograph: by SIJING DAI)

Recently the parents of young migrants have fallen into struggle, on whether to put down roots in a brand new environment together with their children or to remain in homelands. Among them, Chinese parents cover the largest proportion.

With the rocketing number of Chinese migrants in Australia, the confliction is no longer refined within a narrow range of Chinese. It now has become a social issue in the country.

Goodness in Australia

Sitting in the classroom and staring at the blackboard earnestly, some Chinese parents choose to spend several hours every week to take the courses from AMEP (Adult Migrant English Programme).

“I moved to Sydney with my daughter last year and I knew nothing about English before I took this class. ”, Mrs Weiwen Tang, one of the students from AMEP, said. “The government invested more than $200 million on the programme. We are lucky to enjoy the profits.”

AMEP is the government’s largest settlement programme since 1948, aiming to pass on the basic skills to the eligible migrants in Australia. It provides 510 hours of English language tuition as well as extra counsellors, individual pathways guides, settlement course, bilingual support, etc.

“The Australian welfare system is well-established and the weather here is so pleasant, comparing to the haze in China”, Mrs Tang added.

The comprehensive Age Pension system makes Australia categorised as one of the ten best countries to grow old in. The basic eligibility for the pensioners contains that they should be at least 65 years old and pass the evaluation of income and assets. The rates of pension supplement vary, depending on different family situation. A single recipient can get a total payment of $860.20 per fortnight. As to couples, they can acquire the pension of $1,296.80 altogether, with $648.40 separately.

(Photograph: Michael Hall/Getty Images)

From 2008 to 2013, the number of people aged 65 years and over in Australia rose by 533,000 to reach 3.34 million people, accounting for 14% of the total Australian population. The rising number makes the government feel tense on the budget of welfare system. Treasury proposed to kick millionaires off the pension. However, the Abott Government’s budget razor gang scuttled it to maintain the original Age Pension.

While receiving pension, additional payments and services are available to the aged at the same time, including centrepay, pensioner concession card, etc. Among all the benefits, Chinese aged migrants highlight medicare more.

“A thorough medical system is undoubtedly a strong support to the old, since the conditions of our bodies are getting worse with the growing of ages.” Mrs Lu said.

Medicare offers all Australian residents and certain groups of visitors access to medical and hospital service, covering free or subsidised treatments and accommodations in the treatment.

(Infographic: from 2014-15 Migration Programme)

Australia has attracted a large amount of migrants in the past few years. The statistics of 2014-15 Migration Programme indicates that parents occupied 14% in family visa streams, second to the partner of 79%.

China ranks third at the list of resident population in Australia, taking up 1.9% of the total population. The Australian government welcomes migrants. The Immigration Office has already issued more than 5 million visas in 2015.

Kinship vs. Enjoyment of Life

However, Mrs Lu is the minority among the Chinese parents, who enjoys life in Sydney. The Chinese migrant parents are more likely to refer to a group of the aged, who cannot speak or recognize English and feel social-isolated in Australia.

“Every day life makes me depressed and choked.” Mrs Tian Min said. She is also one of the Chinese aged students in AMEP, who has been living in Sydney for almost a year. “Because of the language and cultural gap, I feel myself like as an idiot and dumb. I can go nowhere without the companion of my daughter. ” Mrs Tian said with a sign.

The plight is frequent among Chinese migrant parents. The obvious contrast between life in China and Australia frustrates the parents, especially those who were accustomed to busy and substantial life in first-tier cities.

“I used to live in Beijing and worked in Beijing university.” Mrs Tian added, “I was totally lost in this city and nearly diagnosed as melancholia by the doctor. Luckily, now the situation has been improved since I have made some friends in church and at class.”

“Actually, I cannot see any significance in the welfare system. I once spent two hours waiting for the doctor even I have already made the reservation in advance. ”

“The immigrant office set a relatively low requirement on parent visa. Those who has half of the children settled down in Australia have reached the standard.” Ms Chen Yingfei, the officer of a Chinese immigrant agency, said. “The application of parent immigration includes two types of 103 visa and 143 visa. The difference is that the former is free, taking more than 30 years for queuing relatively. Most Chinese parents prefer 143 visa, which will cost a large amount of money but only takes 1 to 1.5 years.” Ms Chen added.

The Department of Human Services regulates that Age Pension is only accessible to an Australian resident, who has already lived in Australia for a continuous period of at least 10 years. It means that after the acquisition of the immigrant visa, the Chinese parents have to spend 10 years’ patient waiting until they are qualified with pension.

“’Wait’ is the most frequent word I heard from the immigrant agency. I am 65 years old now. I am not sure whether I can still be alive after 10 years.” Mrs Tian moaned.

(Photograph: by SIJING DAI)

In face of various setbacks, the sub-motivation behind to support the migrant parents originates from the Chinese traditional pursuit of family reunion. As to the migrant children, their senses of responsibility are fulfilled by means of living with dads and moms.

The parents are willing to be backup of their children. They do the housework and take care of the grandchildren when sons or daughters are busy with the job.

Although life in Australia is desperate to a large part of Chinese migrant parents, it is still hard for them to make the decisive choice ultimately.